Sons of former Argentine military officers held in Spain cocaine bust

Fri, 07 Jan 2011

Buenos Aires/Barcelona - Spanish authorities seized close to 1 tonne of cocaine in an operation that also led to the arrests of two Argentine pilots who are the sons of former high-ranking military officers, media from both countries reported on Friday.

A total of three Argentine nationals were held Sunday at Barcelona's El Prat airport.

The two pilots for the private-plane company Medical Jet were detained while carrying "more than 900 kilograms of cocaine of great purity," the Argentine daily Clarin said in its online edition.

Spanish and Argentine media identified one of the pilots as Gustavo Julia, the son of the late brigadier general Jose Julia, who served as commander of the Argentine Air Force from 1989 to 1993.

Gustavo Julia is one of the main shareholders of Medical Jet, according to the Spanish daily El Pais.

The detainees reportedly also include Gaston Miret, the son of brigadier general Jose Miret, who occupied a senior government post during Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship.

Both Jose Julia and Jose Miret have been linked with people suspected of criminal activities, Spanish media reported.

The identity of the third detainee, who traveled on the same plane, was not given. Some reports said he was another one of Jose Julia's sons.

The plane, a Challenge 04 model used for medical transfers, had arrived in Barcelona from the Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde, where it had allegedly taken the drug cargo on board.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/361136,officers-spain-cocaine-bust.html.